A Charming Shaker-style Kitchen in a 1000-year-old Mill

How about a little kitchen dreaming today? This beautiful space can be found at the heart of beautiful Cotes Mill - an historic water mill dating back over 1000 years and the site deVOL kitchens calls its home. Wonky old stone walls, low beams and an aged wood floor provide a cosy backdrop - but sure can make fitting a kitchen tricky! I mean, when we fitted our summer cottage kitchen we found the walls to be marginally off, and that was enough to give us a total headache - this is on another level! But with some careful scribing and the right choices, you can do wonderful things, as shown here in The Real Shaker Kitchen whit's wonderful mix of cupboards, dressers and work surfaces. Read on to feel inspired! 

I see, that deVOL had the same problem as us: a windowsill lower than standard cabinets (fairly common in older buildings). We used a curtain to shield the back of the cabinets in our kitchen, but these guys have used a Silestone up stands to keep the run neat, and the work surface contained, which makes it super easy to keep clean, and looks really smart. 

The designers kept the colours of the cupboards and worktops fairly light to make the room feel as spacious and bright as possible - important when the room only has limited natural light. 

Paint colour: Mushroom by deVOL. Worktops: Lagoon Silestone on sink run, Helix Silestone on island. Knobs and handles: deVOL's painted shaker knobs & ceramic cup handles, Cooker Smeg 100cm 'Opera' dual cavity cooker in stainless steel. Taps 'Ionian' deck mounted taps crosshead handles by Perrin & Rowe, chrome finish. 

I think I need to move to an old house (although I'd be hard pushed finding one that's 1000 years old!) - so that I can have a beautiful kitchen like this.

Is this your kind of style too? 

Read more about The Cotes Mill Shaker Showroom  and The Real Shaker Kitchen. And see a load more kitchen inspiration like this here: 

A charming shaker-style Swedish country kitchen

Before & After: a derelict classroom becomes a beautiful kitchen

You can also find tonnes of kitchen inspiration (big and small) in this archive. 

Happy hump day (eeeek, that just doesn't work in British English....!). 

Niki

PS I'll be back tomorrow with a post about an exciting Danish-inspired update to my dining area, make sure you pop back to take a peek! 

Credits: deVOL Kitchens

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A 19th Century House Ready for Summer, On The Swedish Island of Gotland

Linda and Martin Bendelin Munkhammar grew up on the Swedish summer paradise island of Gotland before moving to Stockholm for higher education and work. But when they had their first child, they longed for their home turf and wanted to give their children the idyllic childhood they had enjoyed on the Swedish Baltic island. The pair fell in love with a dilapidated old 19th century limestone house near the coast in Djupvik in Southwestern Gotland which was in major need of repair. After extensive work - the beautiful house has become their home - and a place where children can roam free in the garden surrounded by lavender, and Linda and Martin can enjoy morning dips on the nearby beach. The interior offers a cool respite from the long hours of sunshine - and features cool, exposed stone, original wood beams and beautifully textured walls inspired by the surrounding landscape. Let's take the tour!

How beautiful! 

I understand why they wanted to go home, do you?

Gotland really is a wonderful island, and really comes into its' own in summertime. But more so, I bet the locals really appreciate the end of summer when the tourists pile onto the last ferry back to the mainland and the island quietens down and readies itself for a raw yet revitalising winter! 

See the full feature in Residence magazine here (in Swedish). 

Would you like to see more inspiration from Gotland? I love: 

Scandinavian Travel Inspiration: Island hopping in the Swedish Baltic 

A rustic pool villa in classic Gotland style

A charming 19th century house on Gotland

An island retreat

Har det så bra! 

Niki

Photography: Emma Jönsson Dysell - shared with kind permission

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A Traditional Swedish Summer Cottage, Enjoyed as a Year-Round Home

It's only a few weeks until midsummer (the most important date on the Swedish calendar) and many are preparing to make their big escape to the summer cottage. But for Linnea Fors and her family (which includes her partner and their dogs Oliver and Ronja), it's simply to stay in place and make the most of what the surrounding nature has to offer.  You see, their house used to be a summer cottage up until a few years back - and they were astounded that no one thought of living here all year round. And as the summer cottages in the surrounding area start to fill up for the summer,  Linnea and her family are kicking back, enjoying everything that their traditional Falun red and white croft in Västmanland has to offer. On sunny, warm days the family spill out onto the terrace and garden, and on chillier days they enjoy the comfort of an interior that's filled with beautiful old furniture and soft, linen cushions. Plants and freshly cut flowers line every surface, ensuring nature is never far away. Ready to 'kika in'?

What a dream!

Is there anything that stood out to you? 

See more pictures from Linnea's beautiful home over at @ostersaby155.

Here are a few other traditional Swedish summer cottages to enjoy this bright and sunny Monday: 

A dreamy 17th century swedish summer cottage, with a focus on 'the more the merrier'

A charming Swedish cottage with an outdoor kitchen and shower

An idyllic cottage on the island of Gotland with a pink caravan! 

Wishing you all a great start to the week!

Niki

Photography: Linnea Fors, shared with kind permission

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Before and After: My Summer Balcony Make-Over

Sponsored* 

On our top floor (third floor) we have a balcony which I have to confess, we've never actually used. In fact, a good friend who has visited my home millions of times even commented that she never knew it existed! It's actually a lovely, peaceful spot which gets at least one more hour than sunshine than our little backyard. And in a time when our homes and outdoor spaces have become increasingly important, I finally decided it was time to do something about it! The balcony is 2.5 metres x 1.5 metres and there's a big door that opens outwards onto it, making it a fairly tricky space to furnish. Fortunately, the wood decking was already in place when we moved in so I didn't need to start completely from scratch - just furnish it! I noticed my lovely Danish client - Nordal had just the outdoor chairs I was looking for and it all went from there. Here's the lowdown:

This is the view from our bedroom. It may look like we only have sheer curtains but look closer and you'll spot a tightly rolled up black out blind over the door. 

I absolutely love plants and surrounding myself with greenery. I planted a wisteria in the ground when we moved in over 10 years ago and it has climbed the entire way up our house, and onto our third-floor balcony! If it could, it would take over the entire interior too (like something out of 'Little Shop of Horrors'!). It's my pride and joy - especially when it blooms - the scent is divine! 

I picked out a pair of rattan-inspired Vasai lounge chairs which have a rattan and wood look but designed for outdoor use.  

Look at any outdoor Scandinavian seated area and you'll no doubt find a blanket - a year-round staple! This one is the linen Saturn towel - which I think works equally well as a blanket, although I have no doubt the girls will enjoy taking it down to the water as soon as Toney catch wind of this new piece!

In my mind you can never have enough greenery so mI'm always looking for ways to add more. This Ajonu pot has a wonderful grainy effect - and is perfect for adding more plants to the balcony (sadly, not everything can grow three storeys high!). 

Since the balcony is on the top floor and therefore quite a long way from the kitchen, we figured a rattan tray would be ideal for carrying items up and down the stairs, but shied away from a table since there simply isn't really the space. Maybe I'll add one later should I feel I miss it!

Also seen here: a summery WEVA pitcher (I might have to exchange the water to PIMMS later!), Tonga notebook in suede and brass watering can. 

I also added a summery jute rug from Granit, so that it would feel softer underfoot. It looks pretty but it will need to bene taken in in wet weather. 

I hope you like my balcony update as much as I do. 

If anyone's looking for us this weekend, you'll find Per and I right here!

See also:

10 Ways To Maximise your Tiny Balcony / Outdoor Space

Wishing you all a great weekend!

Niki

*This post is sponsored by Nordal. However, all words are my own and I only ever work with brands I love and think you will too. Thank you for supporting the wonderful businesses that make My Scandinavian Home possible.

Styling: Helen Sturesson

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The Design Plans For Our Tiny Swedish Cabin (Komplementbostadshus / Attefallshus)

A while back I wrote that Per and I are planning on building an attefallshus (a small Swedish cabin usually measuring 25 m2 (269 sq.ft) - but in this case it's a 'komplementbostadshus' which is allowed to be 30 m2 / (322 sq.ft) in the garden of Per's family's summer cottage in South Sweden. We've been pouring over lovely cabins for ages as you know from this post! We were hoping to buy something ready-made but after assessing all the options we eventually decided to design it ourselves. Out-of-the-blue, I came across Anela Tahirovic - a really talented architect based just outside of Malmö, whose home I featured yesterday. Anela has been working with us to help realise our idea - while also adding some great ideas,  tips and tricks of her own. Ready to see the plan?!

Tadaaaa! This 3D drawing (by the fab Mahir at Studio Ark) gives an idea of the overall look and feel. We wanted to draw inspiration from the surrounding forest - and decided on brown wood panelling (see the inspiration below for a photo of the wood finish we are hoping to achieve). 

Since the living space is so small, we were also keen to draw in as much natural light as possible and create an indoor-outdoor living space. This is why the cabin has so many windows and doors - which we can throw open on warm summer days.

I am toying with the idea of swapping out the black frames in favour of slim brown ones for a softer look (as seen below in this lovely 'Hållbar' 40 m2 house by Woodworks. What do you think? 

Here are some drawings by Anela showing how the cabin will look from different directions:

Inside, there will be a tiny sitting room area, basic kitchenette (fridge and sink), double bed and bathroom on the lower level, and then an upper loft area (accessed by a ladder) for two more beds. In such a small space, storage is a struggle - so, not only do we need to live fairly minimalist (not easy for the Brantmarks!), but we will also need to find some smart storage solutions! Here is a sketch of the layout: 

I am looking forward to sharing more inspiration for the interior and the outdoor area with you soon. In the meantime, this past post might just give you some idea of the general design direction!

And good news, we have planning permission - WOOHOOOO! We were hoping to have started the build this spring, but all the local builders are crazy busy due to the pandemic, so now we're looking at September. Feeling excited but ever so slightly nervous too! 

I hope you like the plans so far! 

Wishing you all a lovely day, 

Niki

A huge thanks to Anela Tahirovic for the design sketches and Mahir from Studio Ark for the building and construction drawings as well as the 3D visualisations.

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